1. Field
The technical field relates to a battery pack and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to a battery pack for detecting and shutting off consumption current of a load, and a method of controlling the battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In general, research has been actively conducted into rechargeable batteries as large energy storage devices due to the development of portable electronic devices, such as cellular phones, laptop computers, camcorders, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). In particular, various types of rechargeable batteries such as nickel-cadmium batteries, lead storage batteries, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, lithium-ion batteries, lithium polymer batteries, lithium-metal batteries, and zinc-air storage batteries have been developed. Such rechargeable batteries are combined with circuits to constitute a battery pack, and are charged and discharged by using an external terminal of the battery pack.
A conventional battery pack roughly includes a battery cell, and a peripheral circuit including a charge/discharge circuit. The peripheral circuit is formed as a printed circuit board (PCB) and is combined with the battery cell. When an external power source is connected to the battery pack through an external terminal of the battery pack, the battery cell is charged by the external power source through the external terminal and the charge/discharge circuit. When a load is connected to the battery pack through the external terminal, the battery cell supplies power to the load through the external terminal and the charge/discharge circuit. The charge/discharge circuit is disposed between the external terminal and the battery cell and controls charging and discharging of the battery cell. In general, a plurality of battery cells are used by being connected in series or in parallel according to load consumption.
Consumption current flows through a battery to a set (which means a load), such as a cellular phone or a notebook computer. The consumption current flows through the set even when the set is not driven. When this state is maintained for a long period of time, a battery voltage may be lowered, and thus the set may not be normally driven.